


Can't Get Much Darker

by wickedorin



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: AU, Androids, Broken, Brutality, Drug Use, M/M, Multi, Other, Violence, tw: rape, viciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-12-03 07:47:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/695923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedorin/pseuds/wickedorin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a fill for a drabble request on AwaitingMassProduction: "Characters: H-01, Ouro!Barnaby, and Superior H-01 Mood/Theme/Type: Angst  or maybe horror Inspiration: H-01 and Ouro!Barnaby’s first meeting with  the new H-01 model. What would happen? Would the new model be more  obedient for the time being? Would Ouro!Barnaby use the new model to  “punish” H-01? Does this prompt H-01 to try to escape?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Get Much Darker

**Author's Note:**

> My strong belief in it always being darkest before the dawn shows through pretty dramatically. I really hadn’t expected this to be so much of a character study, either, but shows what I know. I hope I don’t disappoint.
> 
> Again I have to apologize for just how MANY of these references will only be understood through the RP blog. Eesh. I do hope people recognize "Purple Tiger" at least..? I know he's not even big in the Japanese side of the fandom, so... well.

It was a very _different_ sort of thing to be _requested_ to go to the isolation building at a certain time. Black Tiger’s apprehension was unfortunately only amplified by seeing the newer model waiting outside for him with that horrible false smile on his face. “H-Koning.” He greeted only out of the assumed need to acknowledge the presence of another.  
  
“Inferior model.” The other android’s smile widened. “Since I don’t have clearance, I’m waiting for you. I’m supposed to meet the other failure today. You’re supposed to introduce us.”  
  
“I was not told of this.” Black Tiger kept his response simple. “Who authorized—”  
  
“Maverick and Rotwang.” H-Koning nearly hissed. “The information is available on the network if you don’t believe me.”  
  
He wasn’t sure that he did, actually; or if it mattered. Sure enough, a cursory check of data revealed official orders. It was… uncomfortable, nonsensical. That just seemed to be the way of things of late, however. Perhaps rushing through the process seemed wisest. “You require only an introduction to fulfill your duties?”  
  
There was a bit of a fierce grin on the more advanced android’s face. “Hey, now. I might want to spend a little time getting to know him. I’m supposed to get an idea of how he reacts to me.” Leaning in, grin only seeming to get more vicious, he added, “And maybe make some observations about how you react, too.”  
  
Discomfort dropped straight to dread. Processors running double their normal speed, he couldn’t quite figure out a way to get out of the situation without causing some kind of alert. Or without having H-Koning sound some alarm himself. Black Tiger simply turned to the door instead, leaning in for the first retina scan. “I assume that you have gone over his files.” Most definitely not a question.  
  
That chuckle was so close to, and yet so far away from, Kotetsu’s own. “The basics, yeah. No sudden movements and all that.”  
  
Never in his existence had Black Tiger actually _wished_ a bit for the clone to show off his strength, but he was aware that it was likely an improper thought to have. More or less. Leading the way through the first set of doors, he waited until they closed behind him to repeat the process for the second retina scan. Just before the third and last, he turned to ask, “You are only supposed to observe, correct?”  
  
“Why? Nervous?” H-Koning asked in a maddeningly casual way.  
  
“Yes.” The other android didn’t bother to respond with anything short of the truth. There was little more to do than turn and lean in for the last scan, half-expecting the new model to do or say something; but that moment didn’t come as the doors slid closed behind them. There was nothing left to do but reach forward and turn the knob of that surprisingly “normal” door, acting as just the opposite of any sort of comfort.  
  
Ouroboros’ “Barnaby” looked quite surprised to see them, having merely been sitting on the bed. “You’re the… the new one, right?”  
  
“Right.” H-Koning responded with that same not-quite-right grin that he’d been wearing. “Once again I am in a room of inferiors. Shame, really.”  
  
Black Tiger caught the clone’s wince. He wondered if he’d done something similar himself. “H-Koning is here under orders to temporarily observe.”  
  
There was something surprisingly fragile about the way those green eyes flicked between them. “Then what are _you_ here for?”  
  
“I have clearance here.” He explained simply, trying to ignore the winding dread and not entirely certain if the other android was being serious about observing him as well. “Apparently. I was supposed to introduce the two of you.”  
  
All fragility from before had disappeared. It was startling just how quickly that cruel smile spread over the clone’s face as he stood and sauntered over. “Oh? And what might we have in common, H— Koning, was it?”  
  
Dread. Dread and then something deeper, darker.  
  
The more advanced android’s chuckle seemed just as dark as he took off his hat, tossing it off to the side. “Oh, lots of things, I’m sure. I hear we’ve both got some unresolved issues with this inferior model over here.”  
  
“That so?” The clone stood in front of them both, smiling with a vaguely distant haze in his eyes. “Wanna play, then?”  
  
” _Do_ I.” The motion was instantaneous, much like the metallic clash that followed. Black Tiger had raised his arms to defend himself, but H-Koning used his minutely superior speed to clasp his hands securely around both of the other android’s wrists. Another motion, and one of H-Koning’s legs was wedged between Black Tiger’s own to keep him from kicking or getting an advantage in using either his legs or his center of gravity to attack or move away.  
  
The dread only tumbled further downward. Black Tiger could _feel_ the tension, made an attempt to move with more force than he felt necessary—with no result. No movement in the least. It seemed the advancements in strength and power weren’t just empty boasts.  
  
“You’re _different_.” The blond commented with that too-serene voice, too-fake smile.  
  
“I’m better in every way. Far more advanced.” He all too easy used his more solid frame and general strength to transfer both of Black Tiger’s wrists to one hand, held just as securely as before. Attention turning back to the clone, he started to reach out that free hand. “Care to try me out?”  
  
Barnaby’s double flinched. “He doesn’t touch me.”  
  
“Oh?” H-Koning seemed rather amused by that, motion stilled. “Not allowed to? Or just _doesn’t_?”  
  
“Both.” The clone seemed far too quick to answer, taking a step back and away from the attempt to touch.  
  
“So he _is_ just your little toy. Interesting.” H-Koning chuckled, looking back at the obviously very _annoyed_ android in his grasp. “Guess that’s why they’ve kept him around for so long. He’s kind of feisty, though. How do you subdue him?”  
  
“There’s a spoken password—”  
  
” _No_.” Black Tiger finally spoke up. For the human to have that sort of power over him was sadistic and horrible enough, but the thought of the other android holding that power was so very much worse.  
  
“I don’t think you’re part of this conversation, inferior model.” H-Koning sounded far too close to _angry_ for that unsettling smile to mean much. Particularly when he squeezed Black Tiger’s wrists hard enough so that the metal beneath ground together just a bit. “In fact, I don’t think you’re really part of any. I don’t need a password to subdue you.”  
  
There _had_ been something vicious and just aching to be flung at the so-called superior model, but Black Tiger found his verbal processes shoved into the background as something resembling a sheer instinct to survive received all of his attention. He was simply shoved, tilted, let go of, the ability to right himself and not simply fall initializing—  
  
But he fell with a crunching sound and a heavy thud regardless. Anger. It was _anger_ more than fear, something _feral_ and coursing through him in ways he wasn’t certain he had ever experienced before, _struggling_ against what held him—  
  
“Oh, my wire is stronger and _much_ more advanced than yours.” H-Koning’s grin was more infuriating than even the bands of glowing cord holding Black Tiger’s wrists and ankles securely together in what was essentially a rough but very effective hogtie. “Guess you’re realizing that now.”  
  
“You’re going to help, then?” The blond asked quietly.  
  
“Well doesn’t that sound like _fun_?” He hissed at the captive android. “Oh yes. I’m certainly going to help. What do you usually do to him?”  
  
“Well… I usually get those damn clothes out of the way.” The clone cackled in a manner that was unsettlingly unconvincing.  
  
Though H-Koning’s similarly vacant (though far more cruel) smile as his eyes scanned Black Tiger was much more unsettling. “Guess I’ll have to adjust these bindings, then. Don’t give us too hard of a time, hm?”  
  
Remaining still and compliant was an option. It was a possibility, of course, though there was no guarantee that it would grant him any mercy. If anything, just the opposite was true; in Black Tiger’s mind, he had nothing left to lose. The moment he felt the bindings loosen, he moved his arm just enough for his energy sword to extend without damaging any part of him.  
  
“Nasty little toy.” It was just a comment, a tease, hiding the nature of the strength and power it took for the more advanced android to roll the other onto his side and _snap_ that energy sword off near the base with a perfectly aimed, focused kick. Of course he _would_ be able to do something like that; his own sword was similar, and so he had some idea of its strengths and weaknesses.  
  
Logically, it was still impossible to reach his energy pistol. That didn’t stop him from _trying_ ; but H-Koning had grasped it first, tearing it from its built-in holster and flinging it across the room hard enough to leave a dent in the reinforced wall. The bindings were pulled tight again, _more_ than before, resulting in clear “wounds” in the artificial skin. “Strike two. I don’t think you have a three.” He didn’t wait for instruction before grabbing at the clothing and simply _ripping_ , leaving synthetic skin with a few more marks and tears.  
  
And still the clone was standing back, watching. There was a bit of blankness to his features, even if there was a slowly dawning coherency to his eyes.  
  
“Well?” H-Koning prompted. “I thought you wanted me to _help_. Unless you want me to put on a show for you…”  
  
“No.” Black Tiger’s response was more automatic than anything, under to illusions that it would actually _help_ matters.  
  
It was hardly a comfort to know that Wild Tiger’s laugh could never sound that chillingly sadistic. “That’s right, failure. Beg.”  
  
Hatred. That was, without question, pure and absolute hatred that he felt. There was something _sharper_ , heavier, when the other android slid a hand between his thighs and started to feel around. “Well. At least this part’s pretty advanced in comparison, isn’t it?  
  
The blond seemed to come out of whatever trance he’d been in, cruel and distant smile playing over his features again. “Go ahead and feel _inside_. Bet you can’t compare there.”  
  
Well, if he was going to be _invited_. H-Koning made sure to catch Black Tiger’s gaze before he roughly started to scissor his fingers into that artificial orifice, surprised to find that there was just a little _give_. Not muscles, no, but a… tightness. “This is your doing, clone?”  
  
There was a momentary bristling at being referred to that way, but it seemed that the subject matter drew his attention more. “Mmm, yeah.” He purred. “I needed something that felt better than what the fucking engineer virgins gave me before.”  
  
“Humans.” The advanced android laughed to himself, thrusting his fingers inside with a viciousness that was wasted on something that couldn’t feel pain. “Powers or not, they’re nothing but a bundle of fragility and _urges_. And yet how many times has this NEXT broken you, ‘big brother’?”  
  
“Doesn’t matter how much I break him.” The cracked mirror of Barnaby’s responded. “They fix him. He keeps coming back to me so I can break him all over again.” There was a haze to those eyes again, a distance in that voice. “So Mr. Maverick won’t get mad at me for killing anyone again.”  
  
The way those brown eyes held _malice_ certainly made it seem like all of H-Koning’s insistence upon not being able to feel was just talk. Forcing three fingers inside and feeling the material’s ability to adjust becoming far more difficult, close to tearing without lubrication, there was a wonderful idea forming. “He doesn’t appreciate you, does he?”   
  
That seemed to throw the blond, starling him a bit. “What?”  
  
H-Koning’s focus remained on Black Tiger, very nearly _willing_ him to feel fear. “Well… part of his core function is protecting you. He should do as you say, don’t you agree?”  
  
“I… yes.” The blond responded, sounding more than a little unsure.  
  
“He disobeys, doesn’t he?”  
  
“Yes…”  
  
“He needs to be punished.”  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, I think he does.” And while that was the clone’s response, while there was a hint of that sadistic violence in his voice, he took another step back.  
  
Black Tiger realized it then, exactly what it was that kept the clone away. He was _afraid_ of H-Koning. And he had every reason to be.  
  
Particularly as the more advanced android stood slowly, keeping one foot on his captive. Pulling his own energy pistol from his side, he aimed at Black Tiger as it began charging. Dread had never felt so cold, before.  
  
With a few blinks, those green eyes cleared and sharpened once again. “Wait. What are you doing?”  
  
“Exactly what you instructed.” Came the response, charging the gun even further. “I am punishing him.”  
  
“You’re going to destroy him!” There was a surprising amount of _emotion_ in those words, shrill and insistent.  
  
“I am going to get rid of him. He is a failure.” H-Koning explained calmly. “Then I will get rid of you, as well.”  
  
Barnaby’s double either didn’t hear or simply didn’t react to that last part. Instead, it seemed that he was stomping his way toward H-Koning with something completely different in mind. “Don’t fucking touch him! He’s _mine_! To do with what I please!”  
  
H-Koning turned 180 degrees in a fraction of a second, gun suddenly aimed at the floor and slowly relinquishing its charge—his free hand around the clone’s neck. Squeezing.  
  
Black Tiger, still bound and pressed to the floor by an android who was technically stronger and faster than he was, still managed to put some kind of _strength_ behind his words, some sort of emotional power. “Release him. Now.”  
  
The response was only a laugh at first, then H-Koning simply lifted his foot to allow him to half-push, half- _drag_ the clone to the bed by his neck. Something _happened_ before he let go, though. something that caused the blond’s entire body to go stiff as he gasped—then whimpered, falling back onto the bed when he was released. “Worthless, both of you.”  
  
It was enough. _Beyond_ enough. Black Tiger’s demand made the walls around then ring. “ _What did you do to him?_  
  
The result was a strangely honest look of surprise before that weasel-slick smile came back to H-Koning’s face. “First time I’ve heard what seems to be anger from you, inferior model. Why?”  
  
” _What did y—_ ”  
  
” _I heard you the first time._ ” The superior android yelled back, louder. Once the echo was done bouncing off the walls, he continued in his usual tone and volume. “Now, let’s try to be civil, hm? It’s a perfectly harmless temporary paralysis agent.”  
  
He questioned the “harmless” aspect most of all. “Why would you have such a thing?”  
  
“All bases must be covered if I’m to be Ouroboros’ enforcer, right?” Chuckling, he turned and wound his fingers into the clone’s hair, forcing the human to sit up limply. “He’s helpless, now. Completely. Just like you. There’s no telling when his metabolism will let him move again, but I bet you’ve got time. It lasts _hours_ in non-NEXTs, after all. _Real_ humans. Humans who weren’t _cloned_.” Shaking the blond slightly, he continued in a voice that reflected false amusement, “You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to pay him back for everything he’s done to you.”  
  
Demanding that H-Koning let the clone go would do no good. It might even make the situation worse. Black Tiger chose to simply answer, instead. “I do not. That is not my will.”  
  
“You’re lying.” The other android hissed. “ _Liar_. You want to destroy this pretty little face, don’t you? In ways where it can never heal. Make sure he _knows_ what he is. Make him feel all the pain you can’t.”  
  
” _No_.” Where the vehemence came from, he wasn’t sure. There was something about the choice of words, the way there was _terror_ in partially-clouded green eyes. “It is wrong. Wrong for _anyone_. To harm and cause hurt, fear, are wrong absolutely. Always wrong.”  
  
There was a snort in response. “Wild Tiger wanna-be. If you really believe that then you’re below even the standards I thought you to represent. But I guess it makes sense. I’m not programmed to protect him like _you_ are, inferior model. I can do whatever I want with this _other_ failed experiment.” Dropping the clone back on the bed, H-Koning began to remove the man’s clothes.  
  
Black Tiger had always been programmed against self-harm. It was something of a “just in case” at the end of his base programming, in the event that he might glitch or crash of otherwise become unstable. It was part of his code, part of his core.  
  
It was also being overwritten as he struggled, jerking one shoulder hard enough to dislocate the joint. Then _harder_. He didn’t stop until something _snapped_ in his hand, the bindings coming just loose enough to allow him to use what remained of his energy sword to cut through them. Advanced though they might be, few things could withstand such a weapon. Freed of the cord, he stood quickly and corrected H-Koning’s assumption. “No. You. Cannot.”  
  
Credit where it was due: the “superior” android was unable to avoid or block Black Tiger’s swing. While there was only the barest edge of that energy sword left, it took a noticeable gash out of H-Koning’s neck, synthetic skin singed and oil spilling out around the edges.  
  
Unfortunately, he could not avoid the answering strike of brute force packed into the fist that hit him as H-Koning spun around, impacting him in the upper chest and knocking him down by momentum alone. The more advanced android was _on_ him before his sensors could fully orient him, the little line of static across his vision not enough to drown out the answering _rage_ he saw in brown eyes. So clearly not Wild Tiger’s eyes. “I’m going to do one better than _destroy_ you, inferior model.” There was a mechanical sound, a panel in his arm opening. “I’m going to damage your main drives just enough to let you know how much I’ve taken away from you.”  
  
There was a struggle. A thoughtless struggle that wasn’t based particularly on logic as far as Black Tiger was concerned; for him it was _instinct_. To survive intact, to continue to _be_. It wasn’t _enough_ , H-Koning simply built to react faster than he was, Rotwang thoughtlessly increasing the android’s weight due to all of the extra features, making him much harder to get out from under. When the diamond-tipped drill started with a shrill whine, there was a very human shudder.  
  
“Pathetic.” H-Koning laughed. “Well, it’s a shame. All that hope and struggle for nothing. Don’t worry, this won’t take long. You’re put together the same way I am. Because our creator is an idiot.”  
  
Was he a coward? What a ridiculous thought to have. He flinched when the drill started penetrating his chest cavity not from pain, but from the alarms that sounded. The main drives were less than an inch away. Permanent read-only mode, being unable to write data, wouldn’t take all that much effort for someone who knew what they were doing. Though it was unlikely to stop there.  
  
Everything he’d fought for, struggled for, was going to disappear with a couple of well-placed scratches and holes. Then the clone would die. Wild Tiger would probably be next, possibly the other heroes after. He would be scrapped. There would be no reason to replace his drives, and it would be impossible to reformat him.  
  
He’d failed. No one was going to save him.  
  
Then the drill was partially torn out of him—and snapped off.  
  
His whirring processors took nearly a full second to catch up to his visual sensory perception. It was almost enough to miss the clone, glowing blue with patches of dancing red-gold—the tell that he was _far_ exceeding Hundred Power, that even the facility specifically designed for the purpose may not have been able to hold him if he’d been of a mind to focus on escape.  
  
He was _crushing_ H-Koning. _Stomping_ on the android, screaming, caving in both that head and chest even as the mechanical limbs were still flailing. “ _Don’t you **ever** do that to me. Don’t **ever**._ Couldn’t… I couldn’t _move_ , f— Fucker. Don’t. _Ever._ ”  
  
“Superior” or not, under the blond’s focus, the android’s shell was simply crumpled until the body stopped moving altogether. Black Tiger made an assessment of his own damage as he removed the drill bit still partially buried in his chest; drives unharmed. Right arm and hand damaged, left wrist bent slightly. Energy gun hostler broken, but useable. Skin lacerated at several points. It wasn’t ideal, to be sure, but he didn’t suppose he had a choice any longer. When the clone finally stopped, taking a clumsy step back and simply falling into a sitting position on the floor, there seemed no time to rest. “Follow me. We have to leave now.”  
  
The Hero’s cracked mirror image stared at him blankly. “Leave? Permanently?”  
  
“Yes.” Black Tiger assured, moving to check his pistol. Functional, if a bit dented “We have to go, now. Come on, Barnaby.”  
  
“That’s not my name!” The clone yelled, voice breaking. At the android’s silent blink, he made a sound like a sob even as he plastered on a fake smile. “That’s… the real one’s name. The one Mr. Maverick loved enough to lie to.”  
  
Black Tiger could not fully comprehend the range of emotions he felt, heard, and “sensed” in some way or another. There were too many, and there wasn’t time to cross-reference and try to understand. They needed to go. “Come with me, then. Maybe you can find a name.”  
  
“I… Yeah.” The blond rose shakily.  
  
Looking down at himself and then the clone again, it seemed wise to ask, “Do you have more clothes?”  
  
It was only then that the clone seemed to realize the android was naked, and he himself was partially so. “I should.”  
  
Not that there was time to dress _there_. “Wrap them together in something and hold onto it. I will get us out.” The orders came as easily as his confidence. It wasn’t time to question any longer.  
  
“Yeah.” The clone was impressively focused as he leaped to the task, moving quickly. There weren’t many clothes that he was allowed, so they all fit neatly wrapped up in a long-sleeved shirt, sleeves tied and knotted to keep everything together.  
  
“Stay close.” Black Tiger gave a glance down to what had been the newer model as they went by. The main drives might well still be intact inside the wreckage of his twisted frame. Not that it mattered. They would be hunted, either way—but he was _determined_. He would get to Wild Tiger, would try to explain what was happening and to seek _help_ for the blond. Certainly he didn’t _forgive_ the clone. And he certainly did not forget the violence, the horror rained upon him. But somewhere deep down there was the insistence that maybe there could be a second chance. Wouldn’t Wild Tiger give him a second chance?


End file.
